What Do Men Say Is the Most Frustrating Aspect of Dating?

Dating is tough, and interpersonal communication can be even tougher. But the electronic age has brought with a whole new layer of angst — it seems nothing is more perplexing to a man than talking to a woman via text message.

A recent survey conducted by TSB Magazine, an online dating advice and men’s interest site, asked participants to review some of the most traditionally frustrating or confusing aspects of dating, approaching women, and romance, and then choose which issue was paramount.

Fully a third of men said confusion about when to send a text to a woman and what it should say was the most frustrating aspect of a budding romance, while others cited more traditional concerns like approaching women, having an in-person conversation and the awkwardness of an end-of-date kiss.

Of course, not everyone even had the chance to get that far — the survey also included the choices “having women see you are a friend, not a love interest” and “hitting it off with a woman only to have her shift her interest to someone else,” which garnered 10 percent and 6 percent of the votes, respectively.